Diplomat. Journals and
letterbooks relating chiefly to Cathcart’s capture (1785) by Algerians off Cape
St. Vincent while he served on the schooner Maria
of Boston, his eleven-year captivity, and the successive offices he held while
a prisoner, becoming chief Christian secretary to the Dey of Algiers (1792).
The letterbooks relate to his later service as United States consul
(1797-1817).